


Unexpected Gentleness

by teacuphuman



Series: 2016 Inception Kink Bingo [8]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: M/M, Mpreg, Post-Break Up, Pregnancy Kink, Unplanned Pregnancy, brief mention of childloss in a dream, past relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 20:43:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7655992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teacuphuman/pseuds/teacuphuman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur turns up to a job pregnant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected Gentleness

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Unexpected Gentleness square on my Inception Kink Bingo card.
> 
> If I've missed any tags for this fic, please let me know and I'll add them.

When Arthur shows up in Québec City, dark, dangerous, and four months pregnant, Eames nearly shits himself. He wishes he'd had a more elegant response, but there you have it.

 

“You're pregnant.” He blurts, before Arthur's even said hello.

 

“Observant as always, Eames.” Arthur moves to the desk and starts unpacking his satchel.

 

“How?”

 

Arthur raises an eyebrow in Eames' direction. “From what I remember, you know exactly how.”

 

Eames nearly chokes. “Is it mine?” He hisses, low enough that the others across the room can't hear.

 

“Jesus, Eames, fuck off.” Arthur growls, stalking across the room to greet the rest of the team.

 

Eames knows the baby isn't his. It can't be. He and Arthur went their separate ways nearly two years ago, and as far as he knows, Arthur's been shacking up with some patent lawyer in Brooklyn for the past year. It's just one of those things. A pipe dream, maybe, that never saw the light of day. Eames suddenly wonders what Arthur heard in his tone that made him react so viciously. 

 

They don't mention it again and Eames isn't sure if the others even know. Arthur's covered up well, and has negotiated his part to information only; he won't be going into the dream. If Eames didn't know Arthur's body as well as he does, it probably would have gone unnoticed. But he does know it, or he did, and what Arthur's skin looks like stretched across that little bump is all he can think about.

 

Eames can’t seem to help himself from watching Arthur over the next week, trying to spot the differences his pregnancy has rought. His gait is a touch wider, and he limits himself to two cups of coffee a day. From what Eames can tell, Arthur mostly ignores his small bump while at work. He wonders if Arthur goes back to his hotel room and strokes his belly, murmuring softly to the baby growing inside. He wants to know if Arthur’s felt movement yet.

 

On day 12 of the job Arthur comes into work humming. Eames’ ears perk up and it’s all he can do not to corner Arthur when he gets up to use the bathroom. Eames knows Arthur very well, and Arthur only hums when he’s in need. It’s like a nervous tick, one Eames teased him for relentlessly until Arthur pointed out that if he was at the stage where humming was necessary, it meant Eames was neglecting his duties.

 

He can’t hide his grin when Arthur starts humming American Pie, tapping his pen against the desk. Arthur glances up when Eames chuckles, the soft sound dying on his lips.

 

“Oh, fuck off!” Arthur snaps, startling the others.

 

Eames laughs long after the door has slammed shut.

 

Once his work is done, Eames knocks on Arthur’s door. Arthur doesn’t even bother to say hello, just opens the door and goes back to his nest on the bed where he’s eating poutine and watching tv.

 

“I wanted to apologize for earlier.” Eames says, trying to get a peek at Arthur’s belly where his robe gapes open just above his stomach.

 

“No you didn’t.” Arthur responds, not looking away from the screen.

 

“No, I didn’t. I’ve come to offer my services.”

 

Arthur snorts. “Of course you have. You know, you don’t know me as well as you think you do. Sometimes humming a song is just humming a song.”

 

“Not for you. And you hummed three different songs today. That fancy lawyer of yours not keeping up with your pregnancy hormones?”

 

Arthur stabs at his poutine, pursing his lips. “We’re not together anymore.”

 

“Oh,” Eames says and Arthur shoots him a glare. He moves closer and perches on the side of the bed, next to Arthur’s knee. The desire to touch is ten times what it was a minute ago. “When did that end?”

 

“About thirty minutes after I told him about this.” Arthur motions to his bump, causing the robe to gape further and giving Eames a perfect view. Arthur’s t-shirt is snug across the growing mound and there’s a strip of pale skin showing between the hem and the waist of his pyjama pants. 

 

Eames’ mouth goes dry and he has to swallow twice before speaking. “The sprog wasn’t planned, then?”

 

“Shocking, isn’t it? I plan everything.” Arthur smiles ruefully, switching off the tv.

 

“But you kept it.” Eames says quietly. He knows the story of Arthur’s childhood. How he felt growing up as the child no one wanted.

 

“She’s mine.” Arthur says, his hands covering his belly and angry flush creeping into his face.

 

“He asked you not to, didn’t he?” Eames’ hand clench around a fistful of sheets.

 

“I wouldn’t do that for him. I wouldn’t do it for you, either.”

 

Eames frowns. “I’d never ask you to.”

 

“You might have. Once.” Arthur shrugs, going back to his food.

 

Eames can’t argue with that. “Do you know for sure it’s a girl, then?”

 

Arthur chews for a minute, then shakes his head. “No, but I hope so. Girls are supposed to be easier, aren’t they?”

 

Eames raises his eyebrows. “Arthur, you’ve met my sisters.”

 

Arthur freezes. “Oh, God,” he wraps his hand around the bottom of his belly, speaking softly to it. “If it’s not too late, I’ve changed my mind. Be a boy.”

 

Eames laughs. “Not sure it works that way.”

 

“I’ve been told my powers of persuasion are legendary.” Arthur says, smug.

 

“They always worked on me.” Eames purrs, trailing a finger up Arthur’s calf.

 

“Stop it. I’m not indulging your little fantasy.” He leans sideways to place his bowl on the nightstand.

 

“What fantasy? I am simply offering, one friend to another, to roger you senseless. I can tell you’re aching for it, don’t deny it.”

 

Arthur rolls his eyes. “I’m not denying it, but I don’t see that as a reason to cater to your pregnancy kink, or whatever this is.”

 

“I am offended,” Eames said, feigning insult. “I do not have a pregnancy kink, I’m just trying to be helpful to a friend.”

 

“A friend? Is that what we are now? Last time I checked, friends don’t fuck friends. And you have a pregnancy kink a mile wide. Who’s denying now?”

 

“Firstly, friends fuck friends all the time. Who doesn’t fuck their friends? Secondly, I cannot help it if I find you uniquely luscious in your current condition. Don’t shame me, Arthur, I wore a bell for you.” Eames says, voice serious.

 

Arthur stills. “You said we’d never talk about that.”

 

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, darling.”

 

Arthur stares at him, gaze narrowing. Eames crosses his legs and leans back, letting Arthur look his fill. It’s been a long time since they’ve bedded each other, but Eames isn’t worried. In his opinion they’ve only gotten better with age, and he used to know Arthur’s body like it was his own. If things are different now, with the belly between them, it can only make it like the first time, all over again.

 

“What are you suggesting?” Arthur asks carefully.

 

“Anything you like, I am here for your pleasure.” Eames gives him his most charming smile, but Arthur only frowns. It secretly thrills Eames that none of his usual moves ever worked on Arthur.

 

“I just want to fuck. My hormones are insane now that I’m finally not puking hourly, and I need to get off to something other than my hand. I guess you can fuck me.”

 

“You’re such a romantic. Never change.” Eames notes, sourly, but it makes Arthur smile, and that was the point.

 

“Shut up and take your clothes off.” He says, trying to wrestle out of the robe without getting up.

 

Eames reaches for him. “Let me?”

 

Arthur stops, giving him a worried look. “Eames, this doesn’t mean anything.”

 

“Of course not,” he smiles, but it’s fake and they both know it. “Just trying to be helpful.”

 

Arthur climbs off the bed and starts to remove his clothes. Eames forces himself not to stare, focusing on getting his shirt undone without losing any buttons. He’s dying to see Arthur naked, and he’ll get it, but he has to be patient. Arthur’s always spooked easily and his pregnancy will only make it worse.

 

By the time Eames sheds his socks, Arthur’s crawled under the covers. Eames stands beside the bed, naked and half hard. 

 

“Maybe you should just tell me what you want, yeah?” He’s weirdly nervous now that they’re this close. They’re not together, but this won’t be meaningless, no matter what Arthur says, and the last thing Eames want’s to do is drive him away.

 

“Honestly, I just want to be fucked. Hard. I feel like I need to let go for a bit. Pregnancy is exhausting in ways I didn’t think were possible.” Arthur’s frowns and Eames can see all the stress and worry underneath his carefully maintained mask of indifference.

 

He lifts up the covers to look at Arthur, taking note of the hollow above his belly and the stark clarity of his clavicles. “You had a rough first trimester, I take it.”

 

Arthur laughs, jostling the bump a little. “God, I didn’t even puke that much in college. I thought I was going to die. The doctor kept saying it was a good sign, but I had nightmares that I’d vomit so hard I’d lose her.”

 

“Arthur,” Eames starts, but doesn’t know what to do besides offer comfort, and he knows that’s not what Arthur wants right now. “Back to ‘her’, huh?”

 

“Shut up and get in here, I’m cold.”

 

“Do you need a bit of touch to get you ready?” Eames says, kneeling on the bed.

 

“God, no. I’m always ready these days.”

 

“Up on your knees then. You know that’s where we do our best work.”

 

Arthur rolls his eyes but turns over and settles on his knees, leaning forward onto his forearms.

 

“Ah, condoms?” 

 

“Shit,” Arthur drops his head. “I didn’t exactly think I’d be doing this when I packed.”

 

“I don’t have any on me, but we could call down to the front desk.”

 

“We are not calling the front desk for condoms, oh my god,” Arthur looks at Eames over his shoulder. “Wait, you came here to offer yourself to me, and didn’t think to bring a condom?”

 

“You’re already pregnant!”

 

“I don’t where you’ve been since we broke up.” Arthur says.

 

“Excuse me? You don’t know where I’ve been? What exactly are you trying to imply, Arthur?” Eames huffs.

 

“You know exactly what I’m implying, Eames. We’re not doing this without a condom.”

 

“I’m clean! I was tested last month, thank you very much. Haven’t been with anyone since.” Eames sits on his heels, arms crossed over his chest. He knows his face is red, but he doesn’t care. Bloody Arthur, always thinking the worst of him.

 

“A whole month? That’s not the Eames I knew.” Arthur teases.

 

“Yeah, well maybe I’m not the Eames you knew.” He snaps.

 

The smile falls from Arthur’s face and he sits up. A tense silence sits between them until Arthur crawls over to settle in front of him.

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you sleep around.” Arthur presses his knee against Eames’.

 

“Yes, you did.” 

 

“Yeah, I did. I’m sorry, it was stupid, and it was mean.” Arthur stares at his hands, resting on his belly.

 

“I never did, you know that. I know there were rumours. But I always thought you knew me better than that. I never did, not when we were together.” Eames says, and it hurts that Arthur would think that, after all this time.

 

Arthur looks up, eyes wide. “Hey, I know. I never believed any of that,” he threads his hands through Eames’ hair, squeezing his head a little. “No one knew we were together, Eames. But we knew. The things that went wrong between us had nothing to do with that.”

 

Eames wants to tell Arthur that he doesn’t remember what those things were anymore, but that’s a different conversation for another time, and Eames doesn’t think he’s ready for that yet.

 

“Right, good. We still doing this?” He sniffs, shaking off Arthur’s hands.

 

“Yeah, I suppose. If there’s anyone I’m going to trust about something like that, it’s you,” Arthur smirks, moving away. “Aren’t you going to ask me about my sexual history?”

 

“Like I don’t keep tabs on that,” Eames says and smacks him on the ass. “Up you go, there’s a good lad.”

 

“Don’t you fucking start with that. I swear to god, I will take you down, baby or no baby.” Arthur warns, settling back into position.

 

Eames chuckles, curving himself over Arthur’s back. “Let’s see if arguing still does it for you, yeah?” He slips two finger into Arthur, making him squeak. “Mmm, some things never change.”

 

Arthur turns his head to speak, groaning instead when Eames curls his fingers and starts to thrust. Arthur’s slick, and hot, and wide open for him. It’s never taken much for Eames to get him going, but this takes eager to a whole new level. Arthur’s already moaning for more, pushing back onto Eames’ fingers.

 

“Jesus, Arthur.” Eames removes his fingers and lines up, letting Arthur spear himself on his cock as he rocks backwards.

 

“Fuck,” Arthur’s breath is broken already and they’ve barely started. “Oh, fuck, Eames, I need this so bad.”

 

“You have it, darling. Just relax and let me do all the work.” He starts thrusting. Arthur’s ripe and splits like a peach. Eames closes his eyes and groans.

 

“Harder.” Arthur says, reaching back to pull at Eames’ hip.

 

Eames holds him, one hand clamped on his shoulder, the other over his hip, and lets loose. He fucks Arthur until he’s inching him up the bed. Until Arthur’s pressing back against the headboard and Eames can hardly hear his own panting over the slapping of his hips to Arthur’s ass.

 

“Harder!” Arthur cries, arching has back to take Eames deeper.

 

Eames slides his hands under Arthur’s arms, sitting up and pulling Arthur with him. He eases Arthur’s legs open to sit on either side of his own, relishing Arthur’s sigh when he sinks down a little more. He wraps his arms around Arthur’s chest, encouraging him to fuck himself on Eames’ cock.

 

Arthur slows down, crying out when he manages to angel Eames’ cock so it brushes over his prostate.

 

“That’s it, love. Take what you need.” Eames whispers, sucking a mark into Arthur’s neck. He’ll catch hell for it later, but right now he just wants to pretend that Arthur still belongs to him.

 

Arthur’s gasping wetly, rolling his hips as he slides up and down Eames’ cock. Eames leaves marks down his neck, biting gently where it meets Arthur’s shoulder. Arthur’s hand comes up to cup the back of Eames’ head, holding him in place, so Eames bites harder. Arthur moans, hips moving faster. Eames doesn’t realize one of his hands has made it’s way to the bump until Arthur covers it with his own. The possessive curve of their joined hands is like a punch to the gut and Eames is suddenly on the edge. He sinks his teeth into Arthur’s flesh, and it’s certain to leave a mark, but Arthur cries out, spurting over their hands and clamping down on Eames’ cock like a vise. Eames slams him down, thrusting as much as Arthur’s spasming will allow until he’s coming, hard and fast inside Arthur.

 

They collapse forward, Eames slipping out and watching his come trickle out of Arthur slowly. He arranges Arthur on his side, curled around the bump, and goes to wet a cloth. He cleans them up, charmed by Arthur’s deep snores. Eames isn’t sure if he’s allowed to stay, but Arthur didn’t tell him not to, so he settles behind Arthur, stroking his belly with the pads of his fingers. He know he has no claim to Arthur, or the baby, but perhaps, if he tries his best, Arthur will keep him around for a while.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Look! There's a [Sequel](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7906027)!


End file.
